Wendell wright



UNiTED STATES -PATENT oFFioE.

WENDELL-WRIGHT, NEW YORK, N. Y.

MODE OF CONNECTING PIPES FOR'STEA'M-BRAKES.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 12,263, dated January 16, 1855.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, WENDELL l/VRIGHT, of

y. the city, county, and vState of New York,

have inventedv certain new and useful Im,

provements in the Means of ApplyingSteam or Compressed Air to Operate Railroad-l Brakes; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure 1, is an inverted plan of the platform orframing of a car or locomotive Ahaving my improvements applied. Fig. 2, is a longitudinal vertical section of the same. Fig. 3, is a perspective view of the arrangement for regulating the force applied to the brakes. Fig. 4, is a front view of the indicator for indicating the degree of force applied. Fig. 5, is a longitudinal Isectional view of one of the connections between the pipes which convey the steam or air from one car to the other. Fig. 6, represents a portion of Fig. 5, detached. Fig. 7, is an outside view of what is represented in F 1g. 6. Fig. 8, is a transverse section in the line y, y, of Fig. 6. I

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

This invention consists in an improvement in the connections between the pipes which convey the steam or air under the cars to operate on pistons connected to the several brakes. Whereby the disconnected ends of the pipes are always caused to be closed, but

4 when the pipes are connected there is always caused to be an open communication between them.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my invention I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A, is the platform of the car.

B, B, are the trucks, to one of which the brakes are shown applied. The brakes themselves are not particularly represented, and will not be described here as they form a distinct and separate invention to form the subject of another application for a patent. It will be sufiicient to say here in reference to the brakes, thatthey are operated upon by turning a vertical shaft a, which is hung in suitable bearings under the car and carries a roller b, which winds up two cords or chains o, o', and acts upon the brakes b drawing toward each other two bars d, d

to which the brakes are attached. This roller and "cords or chains are a device in common use for operating the brakes herelthe brakes, is applied to an arm e, onv the saidl shaft, through the rod f, of av piston working in a cylinder g, placed horizontally under t-he car. heretofore employed or proposed for operating brakes by steam or compressed air,.being open at one end' and .closed Vatthev other, and receiving the steam or air between the piston and the closed end, through a'pipe, L, lead ingfrom the boiler if steam is used, or-from a reservoir C yif air is used, the saidrreservoir. having a constant supply kept up'witfhin it by compression pumps worked'from 'the' locomotive or one of the car axles. Each car of the train will be furnished with a separate brake cylinder g, but all will be supplied with steam or air from the boiler or from the same reservoir C by a pipe z', which is so arranged as to be opened by the sameV of pipe running under all the cars and leading to all the cylinders each car carrying its own length of pipe,l and the several lengths of pipe being connected and disconnected at the same time as their respective cars, by means of movable lexibleconnections. The first of these connections is shown in Figs. l and 2, and also in Fig. 5. ,These connections consist each of a piece of india rubber or other flexible tubing D, which is of such size internally that the ends of the lengths of pipe i, vl, will fit it tight-ly when it is pushed over them by hand. The connecting tube D,

is furnished at each end with a metallic mouth piece j', which serves to protectits extremities. These mouth pieces may contain female screws to screw on the ends of the pipes z', z, but this I do not at present think necessary.

Near the end of the pipe c', there is a valve 7c, of conical form, so arranged that by the pressure of steam or air acting upon it, it may be made to close the pipe, and between this valve and the end of the pipe is a long spring, or elastic tongue Z, shown tinted blue lin Figs. 5, 6 and 8. The outermost end of this spring, or end nearest theend' of they This cylinder is. like those l pipe issecured to Athe "pipe by riveting on otherwise, and the other or innermost end occupies such a position thatit is capable of snugly up against the' interior of the pip'e'as shown in Fig. "fandin black outline in ig. 8, butv When the 'endrof the vpipe enterstheconnecting tube tlie'protruding p'art'oftlie spring'l, coming i'r'lcontact4 Withthe interior of the metallic mouth piece j, ofthe tube, is p i of' pipe forconveying the steam' or com` forced inward 'and the spring is thus caused y to move toward'the center ofthe tube as shown in Fig. 5, Aandiin red outline inFig. 8 and itsyinnermostvend caused to impinge upon one Side of the'face of the valve, which by reason of its conical form is driven back from its Aseat by the impinging action'of the spring and the end of the pipe'thereby left open. Each end of each length of pipe i', belonging to the other cars, is tol bev :Eurnished With a similar valve and spring so that When it is uncovered by the connecting tubeit Will be closed, and When covered` by y the said tube Willbe open; p Hence if proper -care is taken when one or more cars are deattached to thel train, ,the `rear end of the train of pipe must 'be aliva'ys closed; but

1 when another car is again attached it cannot fail to be openedbythe valve being thrown back by' the action of the month piece upon the spring' tongue Z.

'What I `claim as my invention and desire to Jsecure' Letters Patent is* "Providinge'ach end 'of the several lengths pressed 'airunder the fc'ars, With a valve lo the mouthpiece'of the connecting tube D. l 'WENDELL WRIGHT andan elastic or movable tongue Z, applied substantially as described so as to allow the valve lto be closed by the pressure of the v steam or air when the end of the pipe is discon`nected,`but to 'be causedto open thevalve 'by the entranceof the end of the pipe into 

